Digital Planet

Do you really need to ‘upgrade’ your smart phone after a year or two? How many keyboards and mice have you thrown away that might be perfectly serviceable if a little less cool with the passage of time? How can we challenge the policies that drive the built-in obsolescence of technology? But maybe it has always been thus? Does it matter so much if tech hardware is thrown away in the developed world when it is then recycled in the developing world? What are the credits and deficits to recycling? An international cast from Lomé to Paulo Alto and Amsterdam debate how we might be inclined to make do and mend in the future. Click transforms the BBC Radio Theatre in London into a gadget repair shop as a panel of experts demonstrate how easy it is rejuvenate your tech with some simple DIY. In an era of maker spaces, homebrew electronics, and craft ale is it time to throw away throwaway culture and to become better acquainted with the inner workings of our phones, laptops and every day tech? (Photo: A man recycling a computer tower case courtesy of WoeLab)